


The Impossible Tourist

by melbie



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family, Friendship, Gen, POV Original Character, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:38:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melbie/pseuds/melbie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still unable to face Amy and Rory after escaping death, the Doctor is met by a familiar stranger. One who shouldn't be able to exist in this world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Impossible Tourist

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who, the BBC does.

There was no wind in Leadworth that day.

The sky was stocked with clouds, all puffy and white, floating lazily in the crystal blue ocean of sky. Thick and shady though they were, the lack of a breeze was unkind to the residents of Leadworth. Mothers pushing their kids through the park in little prams whose covers shielded the children from the sun's unrelenting rays. Businessmen slumped at picnic tables for a moment's respite to eat lunch, continually mopping their brows and loosening their ties, all the while praying for even a small gust to ease the day along.

Far in the shallow recesses of the park was a fountain. It was made of an old, weather beaten stone with moss and weeds sprouting from the crevices. A long fault ran straight through the middle as though some giant had mistakenly dropped a toothpick the size of a thin steel beam and the impact made a perfect split. Water no longer flowed from the lips of the cherub carvings, which now sported a thick blanket of moss, possibly to hide their clumsy artistry and grotesque features. No one had scarce gone near it except for the occasional child playing tag or a wandering squirrel, at least until this fine summer's afternoon.

The dry air began to crack and pop like a spitting fire and, all at once, a cascade of wind shook the trees down to their roots. Lights flashed around the swirls of wind, all focused in one point in the middle of the air. With the force of a bullet leaving its chamber, a lone figure popped right out of thin air and crashed to the ground. The spirals of kaleidoscopic light vanished and the trees stood still once more.

Sprawled on the ground was a young blonde girl wearing abnormally thick hiking gear. She rolled off her stomach to take in the surroundings, and then sprang into a kneeling position, smoothly withdrawing a large gun with a bulky muzzle. Her brown eyes flashed as they quickly scanned the trees for signs of hostilities.

A nearby branch fell to the ground with an almost imperceptible crunch.

The girl spun on the spot to standing and unleashed two blasts of electric blue energy at the source with deadly precision.

A flock of pigeons immediately burst from the trees, taking flight as fast and far as they could minus several of their fallen brethren, who dropped to the ground in successive thumps.

"Ooh," the girl grimaced and holstered her weapon. "That may have been a bit hasty." She brushed the dirt from her coat. The afternoon was still and silent. Not a single bird made the slightest peep – though they may have fled in fear of being mistaken for enemy attack from this trigger-happy stranger.

"I thought the country was at war in this time period," she muttered to herself, picking leaves from her short blonde hair. "Did I land in the right place?"

A muffled beeping emitted urgently from within her coat. She dug frantically through the pockets, emptying out bits of lint and scraps of receipts and snack wrappers onto the ground until she found the source. A slim silver device, not unlike a metal candy bar. At the press of a button, a small holographic image of the Earth was brought up. The projection zoomed in until it rested on the island nation of Great Britain with a flashing green dot confirming her location.

"Nope, right place and nearly the right time." She stowed the device in her coat and hoisted her hiking pack to the opposite shoulder.

Families and joggers passed by as she trudged up the path. None of them gave her much more than a passing glance, no doubt wondering how she could bear to wear such heavy clothes in summertime or how she was able to lift a pack so large it nearly dwarfed her in size and weight.

The stranger made careful not to stare at any one person for too long, but her excitement was clear. She looked ever much the tourist with bright eyes shining as they took in every detail with wonder. To her, everything was so retro and low-tech, borderline primitive. She had to stifle a nostalgic giggle when a jogger pulled out what was then the latest version of the iPod, turning it into an unconvincing cough.

The mysterious visitor had nearly reached the main road when she caught a hint of blue lurking in her peripheral vision.  _What else could it be if not…?_

She broke into a brisk walk, then a jog, and then a full-out sprint until the desired object came into clear view. Half hidden behind a clump of bushes and a bicycle rack. Entirely out of place, yet easily overlooked. A big blue police box with a sign on the door that seemed to read, "Come on in, adventure awaits…if you dare!" The stuff of legends and dreams and nightmares. And it was parked in a dumpy old park. A bit anti-climactic, she thought, but no matter. It wasn't the box she needed, but the man inside.

He couldn't have been far; it had to be someplace close so he could keep an eye on his box while still maintaining his objective. And assuming he did not want to be seen, it would have to be…there!

Directly across from an old picnic lunch, behind some stone drinking fountains, she spotted a flash of tweed poking out through the branches of a rose bush. The girl felt a leap of excitement equal to nothing had ever felt before. After all this time, tracking him through Earth's history, following in the wake of his adventures, interrogating those who had ever caught a glimpse…all her searching was about to come to an end.

Subtly, carefully, she approached the bush from behind and knelt beside the wiry man kneeling on the ground.

"Hello," she said, almost breathlessly.

The man was preoccupied in peering through the branches like a very dedicated gossip reporter. He barely took notice of her and replied, more as a reflex, "Hello."

"Nice day today."

"Lovely day."

"Shame there's not much wind, though. I'm thinking temporal fission in the atmosphere. What do you think?"

"Well, those are always tricky; it's hard to gauge when or where…they…" The man stopped, did a double take, and took a better look at the beaming young girl.

"Hello," he repeated.

"Hello," she replied in kind, grinning.

There was a moment's pause in which the two straightened up and scanned the other up and down. The girl's heart plummeted into the pits of her stomach. It was him all right, but not the right "him."

"Right," he said slowly. "Um…sorry, do I know you?"

"No," she answered cheerfully. "But I know all about you. You're –"

The man's head suddenly whipped around to stare in the opposite direction.

He gasped. "Get down!"

"Huh?"

Before she could react properly, the eccentric man had unceremoniously seized her head and forced her behind the shrubbery, masking them both from view. Sputtering slightly from the mistreatment, the girl opened her mouth to complain when she noticed a new expression had come over her new acquaintance. It was sad, quite possibly the most melancholic face she had ever seen worn by another person. She followed his gaze where it landed on a young couple across the road.

A beautiful young woman with fiery red hair and sculpted legs strolled arm-in-arm with a stick-thin, lanky fellow with a messy mop of light brown hair and an awkwardly charming smile. They chatted amiably until about halfway down the road when the woman gave her companion a playful slap on the arm and laughed when he hugged her tighter in mock protest. Eventually the couple disappeared from view and the pair in hiding stood up.

"Sorry about that!" he smiled in apology. "There was a bit of a situation, sort of touch and go, it's a long story, you wouldn't like it – what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," she wiped the dirt off her knees. "But I suppose now's a good a time as any other." She extended a hand and a smile. "I'm Jacqueline."

He shook her hand with enthusiasm. "Jacqueline, eh? Very nice to meet you, I'm –"

"The Doctor."

"Yes, that's right, the Doc…tor…" He dropped her hand burned by the touch. "How did you…?"

"Oh, I know everything. You could say I'm a bit of an expert, actually." She plopped her backpack on the picnic bench, where it made an impossibly heavy thump, and rummaged around inside, all the while chattering excitedly. "I've read all the accounts and interviews, every piece of information I could get my hands on from your world and mine." She unearthed what looked like a scrapbook overflowing with clippings and papers that peeked out of the thick pages and fluttered out as she tore through them, pointing out a specific page or two at a time. "This one's from my history book and so is this one…that one there I got from the records hall…this one from a passing time agent – boy, did that take some persuasion – and this one I'm quite proud of, actually, since it wasn't easy to get ahold of and I'm almost positive the United States of Mexico's government doesn't know it's missing yet, and this one –"

The Doctor quickly plunged his hand into the whirlwind of pages and brought the rambling to a sudden halt. "Hang – hang on a second, let me take all this in. did you say you've researched me in your history books? More importantly, did you say 'your world' just now? And what was that about Mexico?" He smushed a finger to her lips before she could start again. "No, wait, too many questions, I'll find out for myself."

He took two steps back creating an arm's length of distance and pulled out a thin metallic probe with a light on the end. It buzzed and hummed as he waved it in front of her, much like a metal detector. She could have sworn she could feel its pulsing green light tickle her skin.

"Ooh!" she exclaimed. "Is that your sonic screwdriver? Be honest, does it really not work on wood? Because I've always thought that sounded like such a petty nuance."

The Doctor stared at her with wide eyes, clutching his screwdriver with both hands. "But that's…I mean, you can't be  _here,_ that's impossible, I…how did you...?" He started pacing in small concentric circles. "No, no, there must be something else at work here, otherwise…"

Jacqueline closed her scrapbook softly and gave a timid smile. "I'm sorry to drop in on you like this. I know it's a bit hard to swallow, but I assure you it's not a trick. There's nothing else at work here."

"But you're from…"

"Another world, yes. One very similar to this one, though somewhat more advanced, no offense. I'm something more of a tourist, actually. Thought I'd pop by, take in the sights, compare history books, you know."

The Doctor looked half convinced for a moment, and then shook his head in disbelief. "No, I'm sorry, there's absolutely no way…"

Jacqueline reached inside the inner pocket of her coat and withdrew an old photograph so tattered and yellow it looked as though it was being held together by dust and sheer willpower.

"I believe you knew my grandmother, Rose Tyler."

The Doctor held the photograph in trembling fingers. He fell roughly to the bench as though his knees had given up supporting him. The girl sat quietly beside him.

What felt like hours passed by in silence. Cars rumbled by on the opposite street, their drivers honking loudly every few minutes. A small boy and his dog gamboled past, followed closely by his parents, who glanced curiously at the silent pair. Seasons could have flipped by, the moon could have risen and sunk, and they would not have moved. The Doctor and his impossible visitor.

Finally, after enough time had passed for him to burn the photograph into his memory forever, the Doctor spoke. "Tell me, how is it you came to be here? The dimensional retroclosure…the walls of reality should have closed forever."

She nodded in patient understanding. "Tricky business, reality. Never turns out the way it's supposed to. But you know more about that than anyone, don't you, Doctor?" He frowned quizzically. "My Nan – or rather, Rose – she told me all about you. She and my dad – her son – have been telling me stories for as long as I can remember. Always about the Doctor and his magical TARDIS off to seek adventure in the furthest reaches of every corner of any galaxy. Although," she peered at him with a critical eye. "You're a bit different than I'd expected. Definitely shorter, and your clothes are off. And your hair."

The Doctor grimaced slightly, still lost in thought. "Yes, well, those things never do turn out the way you hope, do they?" He shook his head a little as though hoping to straighten out the jumbled thoughts inside. "Now then, Jacqueline – oh, I see, named for your great-grandmother, were you? – I have to ask…not that I don't appreciate you popping by and all. It's not every day you get to meet the granddaughter of a clone from your former life come from a closed parallel universe. But why did you come here? That technology you're wearing," he tapped the metal device still in her hand. "It's thousands of years ahead of anything this planet, or even this solar system, has yet to offer. Getting back to your own time in your own world is…"

"Impossible, I know," she said. "But I've got enough juice left in this old thing to last, what?" She held it up to her ear and shook it a little, listening for invisible loose bolts. "A few hundred trips to the next galaxy and back?" His concerned expression only made her laugh. "Not to worry, I knew this going in. Not much of a tourist, am I? More like a future resident. But to answer your question, I came looking for you, Doctor. Isn't that much obvious?"

"Yes, fine, but I still don't understand. If the human clone of the previous me is in your world – and your grandfather, no less – why come to me at all? Why not…" His voice trailed off. The unspoken answer hung thickly in the air between them. "I see," he said.

Jacqueline inclined her head sadly. "He passed when I was still a baby. I never really met him. It's best you didn't know the specifics, but you do have to know that my – I mean, Rose was always with him. Right until the end. And my dad was with her as well, and my mum is still beside him."

The Doctor brushed a finger lightly on the edges of the photograph. "I see," he said again.

She granted him another moment of silent thought before plunging into the words she had been rehearsing over and over in her head. Here was the moment she planned out and long since waited for. "Look...the real reason I came is because I want to change my life."

This seemed to pull the Doctor out of his reverie. "Oh?" he said, a quirk of a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes, you see," Jacqueline perched earnestly on the edge of her seat, staring him full in the face. "In all the accounts I've read and all the tales I've heard, they seem to have one thing in common. Well, two things if you count the typical pattern of chaos and destruction that seems to occur up until the problem is fixed. It's just that all the people who come into contact with you, they all agree on one thing: that their lives are completely and irrevocably changed forever. Whether it for better or worse, they can never wake up to their old, boring lives ever again. That's what I want."

She clutched her file to her chest and an unrelenting, determined light took hold of her eyes. "I want to wake up tomorrow morning and wonder how I ever came to know life the way it used to be. Can you help me?"

The Doctor saw more in her wide brown eyes than he was afraid to find. He saw more than she intended to let on, and more than he thought he would ever see again.

And yet the melancholy was beginning to drift away, riding the tides of emotion until it finally slipped away beyond the distant shores. His sadness stored itself in the back of his mind, out of sight.

"Jacqueline, I often pretend to have all the answers. I can make a good show of it and, more often than not, things work out without my actually having to answer. But the truth of it is, I'm just as lost as anyone else."

She gave a short humorless laugh. "I'm sure that's not true."

One look from the Doctor melted her smile. "But it is," he said in a serious tone, though not unkindly. "I've traveled as far as the stars will allow me to, all for the sake of running away, but I've no idea where I'm running to."

Jacqueline lowered her head to stare at her thick-soled boots. The memory of an old conversation with her grandmother came to mind. He was telling the truth; not because he wanted to be self-deprecating or let her down easily, but because she needed to hear it.

To her surprise, something like a smile started to spread across his face. "However," he said. "If there's one thing I've learned from all my running, it's that you should always have a plan. Even if it's the worst idea anyone's ever come up that's likely to blow up entire planets or erase the universe's supply of chocolate, it never hurts to have a plan. And no matter how many times my plans might fail, I'll keep making new ones because I believe in doing things. Standing around, sitting idly by, that's not my style. And it's clearly not yours either." He took the scrapbook from her hands. "Look at all you've accomplished! Like this page here. I didn't think anyone noticed I had anything to do with the Sontaran-American War! That's impressive, that is."

She glanced fondly at the page. "I almost got my arm ripped off by an old Sontaran general for that one. I think his children are still looking for me to restore his honor."

"See, there you go!" The Doctor nudged her arm with encouragement, mentally wincing at the image of the girl facing down a Sontaran, armed with her bulky hiking gear. "Y'know, I've always believed that people's lives can change just by stepping out their front door, and here you've gone and stepped into an entirely new dimension! So to answer  _your_ question, no, I don't think I can change your life. I think you're already doing a fine job of it on your own."

Jacqueline traced the lines of the article and watched as its delicate edges crinkled at her touch. Just then a cool draft of wind rustled the pebbles at her feet, picking up the leaves and depositing them in the street. Both pairs of eyes caught sight of the young couple from before as they made their way back up the road, still glued at the hip. The Doctor's head shrank downwards like a turtle lowering into its shell, until he was the same height as Jacqueline. It was then that she realized who they were.

"You remember all of them, don't you?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. "Your companions. Even after they've moved on, or when the world is too old to know their names, you still remember."

The Doctor didn't reply. Jacqueline saw his hands clench and unclench, saw his eyes flick downwards, and she knew what to do.

"Well then!" she hopped off the bench and stowed the scrapbook securely in her hiking pack. "It's been fun, Doctor. Stay in touch, won't you? I am something like your granddaughter once removed, after all. Look me up in a couple hundred years, I think I'm going to visit Australia when it becomes a dominant world power, or maybe drop in on the next planetary war. Should be fun!"

"Wait a – what?" The Doctor leapt to his feet in bewilderment. "Where are you going? Jacqueline!"

She was already halfway to the main road when she spun around and called out, with a wicked grin, "Maybe it was wrong of me to think you could change my life, Doctor. But I'm betting I can change yours!"

The Doctor watched in horror as she sprinted up the road, hiking gear bouncing and jingling with every step, and tapped the red-haired young woman on the shoulder. There was a short, muffled conversation, and Amelia Pond looked up to find the Doctor standing across the way, waving awkwardly to them.

Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of him, but she would not run. Instead, she crooked a finger imperiously, beckoning him closer. The Doctor sighed at having been caught and picked his way hesitantly across the grass. The moment he drew near enough, all of three of them, the Doctor and his companions, fell into a wordless embrace. Amelia hit him on the back a few times ford good measure, but clung to him weeping all the same.

Through the tangle of crimson hair that nearly impeded his vision, the Doctor saw Jacqueline standing by the TARDIS. She gave the box a final fond gaze, wiggled her fingers in a short wave, and, with a short crack of light and a gust of wind, she was gone.

She left without warning and without goodbye, much like a storm. The Doctor chuckled lightly to himself, and tightened his arms around the sobbing couple.

"So that's what it feels like."


End file.
